President Ghani approves restoration work of Dar-ul-Aman Palace

President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani announced approval of the restoration of the historic Dar-ul-Aman Palace on Wednesday.

The announcement was made via an online statement posted on official Twitter account.

“Shattered Dar-ul-Aman Palace is a reminder of our darkest days. Thus, I’ve approved its restoration work today,” the post reads.

The Darul Aman Palace, literally “The Abode of Peace” or “Abode of Aman[ullah]”, is a western-style palace built by King Amanullah Khan in the southwest of Kabul. It was intended to serve as a parliament building within his new capital, but opposition to the King’s reform efforts prevented the building from being put to use. A fire broke out in 1969 which left it severely damaged. Although later restored to house the Defense Ministry, the building was again engulfed in flames in 1978, only to be reused again throughout the 1980s. Finally, fighting between Mujahideen forces occupying Kabul in the 1990s left the building in almost total ruins with large portions of the ceiling collapsed and the interior open to the elements.

Enough of the structure survived that a plan was put forward in 2005 to restore the building to house Afghanistan’s future parliament. However, the plan has yet to be approved and no work had been conducted as of June 2011.